Battlefield route: fighting for the Vecht

Some options for something to drink and/or eat along the way:

Naarden: Brasserie Restaurant De Kapschuur, Kerkpad 1
Promers Restaurant, Adriaan Dortmanplein 3
Muiderberg: Eating facility Strandpaviljoen De Zeemeeuw, Zeeweg 1a
Muiden:
Restaurant Graaf Floris V, Herengracht 72 Restaurant Fort H, Herengracht 119.
Weesp:
The Tea Garden, Ossenmarkt 34.

Taveerne"de Schalkse\\\", Ossenmarkt 12a.
Nigtevecht: Eetcafé Het Wapen van Nigtevecht, Dorpstraat 100.
Nederhorst den Berg:
Restaurant-Café Het Spieghelhuys, Dammerweg 3.

Background information

Starting point fortified town of Naarden
Naarden is undoubtedly the best-known fortified town of the Old Dutch Waterline (OHWL). In the Disaster Year 1672, the fortress quickly fell into French hands. After the liberation by the army of Prince William III in 1673, a thorough modernization of the fortifications began. Restorations have largely brought the original seventeenth-century design back into focus.
The inner wall includes six large bastions (protruding parts). In the wide moat surrounding it there are also six ravelins (defensive islands) and two stone bears (retaining walls between inner and outer water). Surrounding this is a second, narrow wall and defensive ring with a so-called covered road and a second, narrower moat. This double wall offers beautiful walking opportunities.
An old Lily gauge scale for inundation can be found at the Nieuw Molen - Oud Molen rave line. One of the original entrance gates was later rebuilt. Fort Ronduit was built to protect the coastal strip north of the fortress. The Great and Small Arsenal (military warehouses) from the time of the OHWL have been preserved within the walls. The Dutch Fortress Museum is located in the Turfpoort bastion.

1.
Old sea wall
From the fortified town of Naarden, the route follows the Zuiderzeepad and the IJsselmeerweg to Muiderberg on the Zuiderzee of yesteryear. The former Zuiderzeedijk can be followed via the Dijkweg all the way to the famous Muiderslot, on the edge of Muiden.
When Naarden was overrun by the French troops in 1672 and unknown horsemen had already been spotted in Muiden, this sea wall was quickly crossed. Behind the inflowing seawater, Muiden and Muiderslot were brought into a defensible state as best they could. Then an exciting battle began that was crowned with success after more than a year and a half.

2.
Fortified city of Muiden and the Great Sea Lock
The walls of Muiden with bastions, canals, stone bears, etc. are separated into a western and eastern part by the Vecht. The defenses were strongest on the east side and the traces are still best visible. Muiderslot is one of them.
The Great Sea Lock has been located in the Vecht in the middle of the old fortified city since 1673. This lock was of great importance for the water line and remained so in the later water lines (the New Dutch Water Line and the Defense Line of Amsterdam).
For the defense of the lock and the city, several defense works from different periods have been preserved, such as the Muiderslot (from around 1280), the city walls (foundations from the time of the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648) and improvements due to the various water lines until the twentieth century), the West Battery (1850) and the Muizenfort (1874).

The Fight
The OHWL was a vertical (border) line of Holland between the major rivers and the former Zuiderzee. The north-flowing Vecht was almost naturally the backbone in the northern part of the OHWL. The river remained of great importance for the military inundation of the Vecht region for centuries: this was already the case during the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648), then for the OHWL (1672-1816) and also for the New Dutch Waterline ( 1815-1963).
This river, which was fought over in 1672-1673, should not be missing from a Prinsenroute of the OHWL. From Muiden this route continues along the Lange Muiderweg on the east side of the Vecht in the direction of Weesp.

3. Fortified city of Weesp
After the intersection with the Amsterdam - Hilversum railway, the canal of an island in front of Weesp can be crossed. The contours of two bastions are still present on the left and right. They were constructed after the battle of 1672-1673. Of a complete wall with eight bastions, four were eventually built. The other two are also preserved on the south side of this historic fortified town of the OHWL.
Via the bridge over the moat, a round tower fort of the New Dutch will reach the Ossenmarkt
Waterline in sight. The fortified city of Weesp remained part of the Dutch water lines from 1672-1673. The fort from 1860 is now used for cultural and commercial purposes.
The main road leads around the round fort to the bridge over the Vecht and the oldest part of Weesp. Of the canals, only the Oude Gracht is still open between the Smal Weesp on the north side and the two bastions on the south side of the old center. On the latter side, Weesp is left again via the Utrechtseweg on the west side of the Vecht. A few wooden houses there remind us of the time when construction was only allowed in the firing fields of the fortress with building materials that could be quickly removed.

4. Former forts Hinderdam and Uitermeer
Along the Vecht, the route continues south to the old border area of Holland and Utrecht around the Hinderdam. In 1672 there was an important lock there that had to be defended tooth and nail against flooding. French army units tried in vain to get their hands on this work of art and vented their anger on the surrounding area. Nearby villages such as Nigtevecht and Nederhorst den Berg suffered as a result, but houses, churches and castles were also destroyed by the enemy in other places in the Vecht region.
The cycle route along the west side of the Vecht continues to the village of Nigtevecht, where the return route in a northerly direction is taken via a ferry on the other side of the Vecht. First the remainder of the Hinderdam in the Vecht will come into view (again). The lock in this dam was replaced by the Dutch in 1673-1674 by the Great Sea Lock in Muiden. Even without a lock, the Hinderdam remained a fortified place in the OHWL and later water lines. All that remains of the fortifications is a ruin hidden under greenery in the Vecht river basin. After the intersection with the N 236, the point soon follows where the's-Gravenlandsche Vaart reaches the Vecht. There is another relic of the OHWL: the former Fort Uitermeer. There was a fortification at the lock of the 's-Gravenlandsche Vaart and the Vecht as early as the sixteenth century. After the battle of 1672-1673, it was turned into a fort, which was subsequently continuously improved. However, due to negligence, the defense fell into the hands of enemy Prussian troops without a fight later in the eighteenth century.
For the later water lines, Fort Uitermeer was continually adapted and expanded to meet the requirements. But when it no longer had a military function after the Second World War, a process of dismantling began. Now the preserved part is being restored and redecorated. Easy to follow short walking routes have been set out around the ruins of the former fortress.

From Fort Uitermeer, the route along the Vecht continues over the Gravelandseweg and the adjacent Keverdijk in the direction of the Naardermeer. From there back to NaardenVesting.